Naruto the Fox Boy
by SaucyHandles
Summary: Naruto's life had been hard after being thrown out of the orphanage. But when he was reunited with the old man from his past that changed. With the support of the Hokage, his friends and the Kyuubi, Naruto's life is changing for the better. Good Kyuubi, Hanyou Naruto. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is my very first attempt at writing anything, in my opinion I think it turned out rather well.**  
**I'd appreciate if those who read this would leave a review on any mistakes that you may have noticed so that I may edit and improve my story.**  
**Thank You!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

**Naruto the Fox Boy**

**- Chapter 1 -**

Konahagakure no sato, October 10th, 7 years since Kyuubi attack-

In a small apartment, sat a young boy. The boy had blonde hair that went to his mid back and was done in a style not unlike that of Madara Uchiha's, it slightly got in the way of his eyes but he didn't seem to care much. He had three whisker like birth marks on both sides of his face, and sad dull blue eyes that portrayed the loneliness the boy currently felt. He was wearing a black long sleeve shirt with the Uzumaki swirl on the chest and black anbu style pants.

The boys name was, Uzumaki Naruto, and he was currently staring out the window of his living room. He had all the lights in his small apartment off as he gazed down watching the annual festival celebrating the defeat of the mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune. He didn't dare step foot out of his apartment on this dreaded day... But as he stared down at some of the smiling faces of the villagers he couldn't help but wish he was one of them down there laughing, and enjoying some of the stalls and game booths set up upon the street that his window overlooked.

While even though today was Naruto's birthday, a day that any other child would be celebrating and enjoying with their family and friends, this day had only really ever brought Naruto emotional, mental, and more often than not, physical pain to the young boy. His only comfort was in the old man Hokage that would stop by and his few friends he had made over time.

* * *

Ever since young Naruto could remember, he had always been shunned and hated by most of the villagers. When Naruto was staying at one of the village orphanages when he was younger, the only memories he had of the place was of feeling envious of all the other children there, and crying himself to sleep at night. He never knew why he was hated so much, just that it had always been like that.

While the other children received love and affection from the caretakers, and were all well taken care of, Naruto was often scorned and hated by both the caretakers and other children alike. He would often be locked in his room with nothing to do but stare out his window wishing he could be like the children he'd see walking with their families down below.

He was only ever allowed out in order to shower periodically and do chores around the orphanage when all the other children where outside playing in the orphanage's small park out back. He always had the small amounts of what could barely be considered as food brought up to him, and not even that if the caretakers decided that he didn't do a well enough job with the various tasks assigned to him that day (which was often).

While the Caretakers never really physically harmed Naruto, he received more than enough emotional trauma from all the insults and name calling he received from caretaker and fellow orphan alike. Shouts like 'Demon child' and 'murder' plagued the young boy during his short stay at the orphanage.

* * *

When Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage of Konaha had stopped by to check up on young Naruto on his fifth birthday, as he did every year, he had taken little Naruto out for ramen at his favorite ramen stand "Ichiraku's" for a few bowls of ramen and to have a short talk with the boy to see how he was doing.

Shortly after the Hokage had brought Naruto back from his annual visit on the boys birthday, The head caretaker had been exceptionally angry at seeing his smiling face that night, as she had lost her son in the Kyuubi attack five years ago. And like many of the other villagers, had blamed Naruto for the damage and death the giant fox had caused.  
So that night after a few bottles of sake, the head caretaker had stormed up to Naruto's room and after a slurred verbal thrashing and shouts of 'Demon' and 'Killer' she had dragged Naruto down the stairs to the front door and quite literally thrown him out into the pouring rain.

After the scared Naruto had heard her shout at him never to return, he took off running, tears pouring from his eyes, mixing with the cold droplets of water falling from the sky.

That was the beginning to the next year Naruto had spent on the streets, hiding in alley ways from the villagers and scrounging for food and anything useful that he could find in garbages. He had quickly learned not to be found at night by the villagers when he had been beaten nearly to death by a small mob one night on his way back to the bridge on the outskirts of town that he slept under for shelter.

Flashback no Jutsu!

Naruto had been on his way home, not really paying attention to anything even though he knew he should since it was getting dark. But he simply couldn't, he'd just kept staring at the object in his hands and grinning his wide fox-like grin, as today Naruto Uzumaki had found something extra special, a beginners guide to chakra, He had been absolutely ecstatic about it as he figured if he could learn how to use his chakra, then he'd be able to better defend himself.

He had seen the ninja bounding from rooftop to rooftop and had even seen some of the awesome things these 'Jutsu' could do as he'd watched a few shinobi training and practicing in one of the training grounds near his bridge, really wanted to learn how to do the things he had seen.

Naruto had been walking through an alley way heading towards his "home" when a group of villagers had seen him crossing the street. They had noticed him walking alone, and promptly started following him. Naruto had been blissfully unaware that he was being followed until he'd turned down a thin alley and a middle aged man had stepped out in front of him.

"Well, well, well, it seems the demon pest is alone. You really should watch where you're going, its awfully dangerous out here, but then again maybe now we can finally have a little revenge and put an end to your wretched life," the man said smiling cruelly.

Naruto stumbled backwards, fear evident on his face.

"P-please m-mister, just leave m-me alone." stuttered out Naruto, taking a step back.

"You can't fool me with that fake ass innocent act, I know the real you, monster! No, I think well have a little fun." the man replied.

Naruto quickly turned around to run when he noticed there where about four others behind him. Dread immediately set in when one of the people behind him took a few steps forward.

"I'm going to make you pay for what you did demon!" he said before he charged at Naruto and punched him square in the face.

Naruto had hit the ground hard. And like some signal, the others quickly surrounded him and proceeded to beat him with all the anger and hate they had.

Pain. Pain was all Naruto could register. He could feel nothing but a rain of hits coming down upon him, his arm broken in at least two places, leg broken, and a bunch of blood pooling beneath him. He tried to scream but all that came out was gurgling from all the blood filling his mouth.

The group continued to beat him for a few short minutes until they decided to stop.

"We probably should go guys, before any shinobi notice us." the others agreed, and they quickly ran off leaving the broken boy and a ruined blood stained book behind.

He had awoken in the alley way covered in his own dried blood but nearly fine the next day due to his unknown tenants help. The only reason the mob had not killed him that night was because their fear that a shinobi of the leaf would find the body and they would inform the Hokage, and they'd all be hunted down and executed.

Flashback end no Jutsu!

The following weeks after the incident Naruto had been EXTRA careful and aware of his surroundings. He had also wondered about how he had healed so quick. He decided he'd ask the kind old man that used to come and visit him at the orphanage if he knew why, that is if he ever saw him again.

* * *

The rest of the year went relatively fine, he'd only received a few beatings when he'd not been careful and been seen by a few drunk villagers. His appearance had changed some too, his hair was now down to his mid back, he was now 4ft tall and had small lean muscles from running everyday, and his clothes were slightly too small.

On the day after his sixth birthday had arrived Naruto was walking down a street, it was mid day when a woman wearing a cat mask suddenly dropped down in front of him.

"Naruto Uzumaki?" the strange lady had asked.

Noticing the sword she carried, Naruto gulped and took a step back and turned to run when he felt someone grabbing his shoulder in a strong grip.

"Gah! Let me go!" yelled Naruto trying to pull away.

Neko just looked at him through the cat mask in slight worry and said "there's no need to be afraid Naruto, I'm not here to hurt you, the Hokage sent me to find you.

"I don't know any Hokage!" Naruto yelled back at the woman holding him.

"Naruto relax, the Hokage is the old man that used to come visit you every year at the orphanage, he is also the leader of the village. Neko said.

Naruto's eyes widened at hearing that.

"You mean the old man! You can take me to him!?" Naruto practically yelled.

"Yes Naruto, I can, so do you want me too?" Neko asked even though she'd take him to him even if he said no.

"YES! Bring me to jiji!" Naruto shouted.

Neko just giggled and stated, "very well then Naruto, hold still."

"Whaa?" before Naruto knew what was happening she had grabbed his shoulder and the next thing he knew he was standing in front of large double doors and slightly dizzy.

"Gah! How'd we get here!?" shouted Naruto startled by the change of scenery.

"That little Naruto, was a shinobi technique called shunshin, maybe if you ever become a shinobi when you're older I could teach you." Neko stated and knocked on the door. After a few seconds they heard a "come in" from the other side. Neko pushed the door in and stepped inside with Naruto in tow.

The inside of the room was round and fairly plain, besides pictures of the past hokages on the wall there was only really a curved desk in the middle of the room and windows behind that. In a chair behind the desk sat the old man Naruto had truly missed. He was Hiruzen Sarutobi, an old man with wrinkles and all. He had on his white and red Hokage attire Naruto had always seen him wear when he'd visit, and a tobacco pipe in his mouth.

Neko kneeled in front of the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, I have retrieved Naruto as was requested." Neko stated.

Hiruzen looked up from his paperwork at the young blonde boy with wide concerned eyes, and promptly jumped out of his chair. Now for his age it was pretty impressive to see the old man practically teleport across his desk over to them, and capture Naruto in a tight hug.

"Naruto my boy! Where the hell have you been!?, I got worried when I went to check up on you the other day and the caretaker said you ran away yesterday! Why on earth would you do that!?" Hiruzen stated keeping Naruto held close.

That's when he'd noticed Naruto was crying into his robes and he took a look at Naruto and noticed the tattered clothes and dirty skin.

"Naruto what happened to you why are you so dirty and your clothes!" Hiruzen asked.

"jiji *sniffle* the lady at the orphanage threw me out..." Naruto quietly said, voice slightly muffled by the Hokages robes.

"WHAT!? Naruto when did this happen!?" the third worriedly asked looking rather angry as did Neko if the clenched fists were anything to go by.

Naruto was reluctant to say at first but the comfort he received from the old mans hug soothed him a bit.

"l-last y-year on my birthday jiji." he said quietly while looking down.

"Oh my dear boy... Why didn't you tell me?" asked Hiruzen sadly and taking him up into a tighter hug.

Naruto sobbed into the Hokages robes and sniffled, "I d-didn't know w-where to find you.." Naruto cried from relief of finally being reunited with the old man, and hugged the Hokage.

"It's alright now my boy. I'll fix everything but I need you to tell me a few things, okay?" asked Sarutobi.

"Alright jiji, I'll try." Naruto said, letting go of the old man.

Hiruzen brought Naruto over to the couch in the room and sat him down.

"Okay I need you to tell me about your life in the orphanage and how you survived after they threw you out, is that alright?" the Hokage asked.

Naruto agreed, although he was reluctant to do so, and he sat and told the Hokage about his treatment at the orphanage, and how he lived after being thrown out up until Neko found him. To say the Hokage was pissed would be a massive understatement.

"Neko! I want you to go and drag that no good caretaker to Ibiki and Anko-chan, I want some answers for this!" the Hokage ordered sternly.

"Hai Hokage-sama!" Neko said before shun-shining away.

"Now Naruto, why haven't you said anything to me when I came to visit you at the orphanage?" the Hokage asked.

"Well... They always promised to let me play in the playground and that they'd give me extra food if I was a good boy and didn't say anything bad about the orphanage... And they usually did, just not the last time I guess." said Naruto looking down.

The Hokage looked even more upset at this point.

"Thank you Naruto for telling me this, it means a lot to me for you to be able to trust me and I promise you I'll sort all this out." Said the Hokage.

"Alright jiji." said Naruto, then he got up and hugged the old man. Sarutobi couldn't help but feel horrible for not finding out sooner but he promised himself that he'd do whatever he could from now on for the boy.

"Well Naruto, there's absolutely no way I'm sending you back to the orphanage, so tonight you can stay with me and in the morning we'll see about finding you a place to stay, okay?" Hiruzen stated while smiling down at the boy.

The moment Naruto heard that he immediately embraced the old man in a giant bear hug.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" shouted Naruto as he hugged Hiruzen. Hiruzen couldnt help but to smile and hug the boy back.

'_He truly is a strong boy to deal with all he's been through and not give up_.' Sarutobi thought to himself.

* * *

The sun was just setting when Neko made it to the orphanage and knocked at the door, a few moments later the head caretaker, a woman in her late thirties named Yuki Kabayoshi, answered the door.

"Hello? Ah, anbu-san is there something I can do for you?" asked Yuki.

"Yes. You are to come with me to anbu headquarters for questioning." Neko swiftly stated.

"What? Why? I haven't done anything wrong." said Yuki started to sweat a bit, wondering if the Hokage had found out about what she had done with the demon brat.

"Regardless, my orders are a direct command from Hokage-sama himself, now if you'll please come with me." the anbu requested.

Yuki was now starting to sweat bullets, 'Shit, Hokage-sama must have found out.' she thought to herself. She knew she couldn't run, she didn't have a chance in hell to outrun an anbu, so she decided to just face the consequences and hope she wouldn't be executed for kicking the demon brat out.

"Very well then, I will go with you." Yuki said, resigning herself to her fate.

Neko, was a little disappointed that she didn't try to run so she could rough her up a bit. Unlike quite a few others, Neko never saw Naruto as the Kyuubi. The few times she'd accompanied the Hokage when he'd go to visit the boy, she'd only ever seen a lonely little boy. Even though she'd never actually spoken to the boy and had only seen him from the shadows, the times she did see him he was always alone and quiet usually until they made it to the ramen stand at which point he'd become fairly hyper-active.

So the fact that this "caretaker" had thrown little Naruto out and left him to fend for himself had really disgusted Neko. She would have adopted him a long time ago if she wasn't in the anbu, but with that being her job she didn't have time to raise a child. Besides she didn't want to adopt him just to risk dying on him someday as the life of an anbu was high-risk.

"Thank you, then we shall depart now." Neko said, grabbing Yuki's shoulder and shunshining to anbu HQ to be dropped off in a holding cell until she could be questioned.

* * *

It was already dark outside and Hiruzen was at his desk fighting his arch nemesis, (paper work) when he looked up at the sleeping form of Naruto and signed. He had really wished he could bring him home so the boy could sleep in an actually bed for once after his long year on the streets, but instead he had to stay and do the cubic-fuckload of paperwork that seemed to be never-ending.

Naruto had fallen asleep shortly after their discussion, so Hiruzen had laid him down on the couch and ordered his secretary to bring in a blanket and pillow for the boy. The Hokage could hardly imagine how hard it must have been to live all alone with no home at such a young age.

'_I promise from now on I'll look out for you Naruto. That's a promise to both you and Minato_.' Sarutobi thought to himself sadly.

Just then there was knock at the door of his office and Hiruzen quietly told them to enter. Shortly after he had said that, Neko walked in and kneeled.

"Hokage-sama, I have delivered Yuki-san to her holding cell so she can be questioned in the morning." Neko said.

"Thank you Yugao, you should go home and get some rest, you are dismissed." spoke the Hokage.

"Hai, thank you Hokage-sama." the newly named Yugao said before shunshining away leaving the Hokage to do his dreaded paperwork.

'_Sometimes I really hate this job_.' the third thought to himself as he got back to going through papers.

* * *

The sun was rising and shone through the windows in the Hokages office and straight into Naruto eyes. Naruto woke up groggily with a yawn when he realized he was laying on something soft. He sat trying to figure out where he was. He was used to waking up on the hard ground. When he opened his eyes and looked around, he noticed he was in an office, he turned his head and noticed the old man from what he thought had just been a dream laying at his desk with his head on the desk snoring away.

That's when it all came back to him and his eyes suddenly started to tear up, as he didn't have to worry anymore. He had finally found the nice old man from his past and he had promised to help him. On top of that he had also found out that the old man was the leader of the entire village none the less. For practically the first time in his life, Naruto actually felt safe. And with the comfort of the couch Naruto drifted back off to sleep.

* * *

One hour had passed when Hiruzen slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he had noticed was his horribly aching back, the second thing he noticed after sitting up straight was the young blonde boy sleeping on the couch across the room with a small smile on his face. After standing up and stretching his sore muscles, Hiruzen slowly walked over to the sleeping boy and gently shook him awake.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes for the second time that day when he noticed someone was shaking him. When he took a look to figure out who it was he noticed it was the old man. When Naruto was fully awake he sat up on the couch and stretched.

"Good morning Naruto-kun, did you sleep well?" asked the Hokage.

"Good morning jiji! I slept great!" Naruto said happily.

"Well that's certainly good, I was wondering how would you like to get some breakfast with me?" asked the old man kindly.

Naruto's eyes seemed to shine brilliantly at the prospect of eating actual food with his jiji.

"We can even head down the street and get some ramen if you'd like." Hiruzen offered.

The Hokage's answer was an overly happy blonde jumping up and hugging him.

"Well I guess that's a yes?" the Hokage couldn't help but to chuckle at the blondes actions.

* * *

The trip to the ramen stand was filled with glares of hatred at the young blonde boy, and looks of confusion at why the 'demon' was walking with the Hokage. When they had finally arrived at Ichiraku's they were greeted by a beautiful brown haired teen and an old man that seemed to have a permanent smile.

"Welcome to Ichiraku's! What can I get you?" Ayame said not looking up from wiping the bar.

"Well hello there Ayame-chan, I'll have two miso ramen's, one for me and little Naruto here." the Hokage said with a pleasant smile.

"Ah! Hokage-sama and Naruto-kun! Father come look who decided to come visit!" spoke Ayame after looking up at who was talking.

"Hey! I haven't seen little Naruto in quite some time! Where have you been?" asked Teuchi.

"It's a long story Teuchi-san, I'd be glad to tell you later but for now I believe it'd be best to let little Naruto-kun here eat." Hiruzen stated trying not to dig up bad memories for the boy.

Teuchi took a look at the boy and noticed he was looking down at the floor looking solemn, he also noticed the long untamed hair and worn clothes.

"Ah, that's alright Hokage-sama. Two miso ramens coming up!" said Teuchi as he started preparing the ramen.

Ayame was currently leaning on the counter looking at Naruto, she too had noticed his appearance and had a guess what had happened and wanted to cheer him up.

"Well Naruto since we haven't seen you in awhile, how about we give you a few extra bowls free of charge?" Ayame offered.

Naruto looked up wide eyed at her and merely nodded his head dumbly. A few minutes later Teuchi came back with four miso ramen's, three for Naruto and one for the Hokage. Once they had received there bowls they both dug in. Naruto ate with gusto since it had been so long since he had eaten anything that wasn't out of the garbage. Naruto was on his third bowl when he looked over at his jiji and noticed him already finished, and waiting patiently.

Once they were finished and Hiruzen paid, they said their goodbyes and left with the promise to return soon. They were both walking down the street when the Hokage looked over at Naruto.

"Well Naruto, I was thinking since we're finished eating now, that we could go buy you some clothes and get your hair cut, how does that sound?" Hiruzen asked looking down at the boy who just looked up and nodded with a big smile on his face.

* * *

It was a short walk until they made it to the nearest shinobi clothing shop. Sarutobi wanted to get Naruto clothes that were more durable since he knew it'd probably be a while until he could get new clothes. When they stepped inside Naruto was excited to finally have something new that actually fit him.

"Okay Naruto go pick out an outfit that you'd like and well see about getting a few sets for you." the Hokage said looking down at Naruto's smiling face.

"Okay jiji!" Naruto said excitedly and ran off looking at all the different clothes options. A few minutes later he came back with a midnight black long sleeve shirt, a pair of anbu style black pants with a few pockets to hold small scrolls and explosive tags, and a pair of black shinobi sandals. When he returned to Sarutobi with his selection they walked up to the checkout counter.

"Will that be all?" asked the man behind the counter with a sneer in the boys direction, not liking that he had to serve the 'demon brat'.

"Actually I'd like it if you could put this symbol on the chest of the shirt? And we'd also like ten pairs of that same outfit please." the Hokage asked handing the man a picture of the Uzumaki clan swirl symbol.

"Yes I can do that, will that be all?" asked the man.

"Yes that will be all, thank you." stated Hiruzen.

Naruto looked a little confused at why the old man wanted the symbol put oh the shirts but otherwise didn't question it, he was just happy he was getting new clothes.

"Okay welI can have one shirt done now so you can have a pair to take with you now, and I can have the rest done by tomorrow. I can also send them to an address when there finished, if you'd like?" the man asked.

"Yes that will be fine, and just have them sent to the Hokage tower please." the Hokage said.

With that they only had to wait a few minutes till the man came back with a shirt with the swirl sewn on it and handed it to the Hokage along with one pair of pants and the shinobi sandals.

"Alright, for all ten pairs plus labor and delivery that will be 23,316." the man stated and accepted the money from the Hokage and put it in the register.

With that the Hokage handed Naruto the clothes and had him go to the changing rooms and change, when he came back out the Hokage noticed he looked pretty good in his new clothes.

"So how do they feel?" the Hokage asked.

"They feel great, they're really comfortable! A lot better than the worn down clothes I had." Naruto said happily and with that he hugged the old man and thanked him for buying him the new clothes.

* * *

After they left they headed to a barber shop just down the street to deal with Naruto's messy hair. When they arrived Naruto and the Hokage walked to the counter and requested to have Naruto's hair cut. The woman behind the counter was reluctant to serve the child but having the Hokage there made it so she couldn't refuse. So she had Naruto sit in a chair and asked him and the Hokage how they'd like it cut. The Hokage looked down at Naruto with a slight nod signifying he could choose.

"Well if you can I'd really like it to stay more or less the same length and just not so messy please." Naruto requested.

The woman looked a little confused at the polite way the supposed 'demon' had asked but shrugged it off. And after getting everything ready began her task. A whole lot of shampoo, conditioner, brushing and a little cutting later and Naruto had basically a blonde Madara Uchiha's hair style. When she was done she had him look in the mirror and asked what he thought.

"Wow... It looks amazing! Thank you so very much ma'am!" Naruto said with a true beaming smile to which the hair stylist couldn't help but smile back which initially shocked her, but she decided perhaps she had misjudged him and assured him it was no problem. Hiruzen smiled when he noticed her mood towards the boy change.

'_You're already on you way to changing how the villagers see you Naruto_.' thought Hiruzen with a proud smile. And with that they paid for the cut and left after being reassured that Naruto was welcome back anytime.

* * *

After leaving they headed back towards the Hokage tower. On the way they notice the looks that Naruto was receiving from a few of the girls his age. Which made Hiruzen chuckle and Naruto blush a little, as he was used to being the center of negative attention and never before had anyone looked at him like that.

When they made it back they walked up the stairs and into the Hokages office, Sarutobi took his seat behind his desk and Naruto sat on the couch.

"Well Naruto, I have some work I really need to get done so how would you like to go to the park? I'll have Neko escort you there if you'd like to go." offered the Hokage.

"Yes please, I'd very much like to go!" Naruto said happily.

With that, Hiruzen snapped his fingers and Neko appeared kneeled before the Hokage.

"Orders Hokage-sama?" Neko asked.

"Ah, yes Neko, I'd like you to accompany young Naruto here to the park by the academy building if you wouldn't mind." said Hiruzen.

"I would gladly do so Hokage-sama." Neko stated standing up and turning towards Naruto.

"If you'd please follow me Naruto-kun we can be on our way." Neko told Naruto. And with that they were on there way, once more leaving the Hokage to his paperwork.

* * *

Neko and Naruto were walking down the street towards the park, and once more Naruto was receiving strange looks. It wasn't everyday you seen an anbu just walking down the street in brood daylight. But either way they were approaching the park when Neko turned to Naruto.

"Well Naruto, the park is straight ahead, I'll be watching from the shadows okay?" Neko asked Naruto and received a nod in return before shunshining away in a flurry of leaves.

With that said and done Naruto kept his pace towards the park, but when he arrived he noticed two girls being bullied by two older boys that were maybe a year or two older than Naruto himself.

The first girl was crying with her knees pulled to her chest. She had shoulder length bright pink hair tied up with a red bow, and bright green eyes. The second girl was standing over her protectively, she had shoulder length blonde hair with bangs on both sides with a red hair clip on the the side.

When Naruto seen them being bullied he charged forward stopping about five feet away and shouted at the bullies.

"Hey! Get away from them!" he shouted at them.

The bullies turned to see some blonde boy yelling at them.

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do if we don't?" mocked the first boy.

"If you don't leave them alone right now, I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!" snarled Naruto his face scrunched up in anger.

"Hahaha yeah right! Like a little brat like you could beat us! Don't make me laugh Baka!" laughed the second boy.

That was all Naruto needed to hear as he charged forwards determined to prove to them not to underestimate him. When he got within two feet of the first boy he lunged with his fist back ready to punch with everything he had, when he was right in front of the boy he fired his fist forth striking the surprised boy directly in his left cheek with his all, the bully went out like a light.

The bullies friend looked on in shock at what just happened, they were used to the kids they pick on not fighting back, but that shock quickly turned to anger and he turned and ran straight towards Naruto, when he was right next to the angered Naruto he tried to throw a right hook at Naruto's face but was severely surprised when his fist was blocked by said blonde.

Naruto had just gotten over the shock of how quick the first boy fell, when he turned to his left just in time to see a fist heading straight for his face, and as if acting on instinct, he threw his left arm up and caught the boys wrist in his hand and without thinking counter attacked with a right hook of his own which struck its mark with a smacking noise. The boy fell holding his cheek and looked like he was about to cry. The boy didn't seem to want to continue as he stood up shakily, walked over to his unconscious friend, slung him over his arm and quickly left.

Once he was gone Naruto turned his attention to the two girls he had just rescued to find them both looking at him in awe. He slowly approached them a stuck his hand out to help the pink haired girl that had stopped crying up.

"Are you two okay?" Naruto asked with worry lacing his voice.

"Y-yes.. I think we are alright thank you." the pinkeye said taking his hand with a small blush on her face.

"Yeah what Sakura said." was the blonde haired girls reply.

Once he had helped the pink haired girl up, he turned to face both of them and smiled, causing them both to blush.

"Well my name in Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki!" he said with a bright smile.

"Well its really good to meet you Naruto-kun, my name is Ino yamanaka, and her name is Sakura Haruno." said replied Ino with a blush realizing the affectionate suffix she had used.

"Yeah thank you so much! I don't know what we would've done without you Naruto-kun." Sakura said with a bright smile and slight blush.

"Hey it was no problem at all! There's was no way I was going to let them treat you two like that!" Naruto responded sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"Well still, it means a lot that you defended us, so thank you... " said Ino as she took a step forward and kissed Narutos cheek causing them both to blush crimson and earning a small glare from Sakura. But before Naruto could respond to the kiss, a man walked up with long blonde hair reaching his back, which was spiky on top and ended in a pony tail in back. He had blue green eyes, he was wearing a standard flak jacket over a black outfit with hand-guards, and over that he was wearing a sleeveless red hoari.

This mans name was Inoichi Yamanaka, Ino's father and head of the Yamanaka clan.

"Well now, who ever said chivalry was dead." joked Inoichi looking at the blushing face of his daughter and Naruto, he had seen the whole fight and was quite impressed with the boys determination to stick up for complete strangers.

"Well my boy, I thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart for defending my daughter and her friend, you two are welcome to play anytime you like, And who knows maybe when you two are older you can date my daughter." Inoichi said purposely teasing both his daughter and the young blond boy.

Both Ino's and Naruto's faces flushed crimson in embarrassment, and Sakura's in jealousness causing Inoichi to burst out laughing. When he calmed down he turned to his daughter.

"Yes, well come on sweetie, we've got to get you and Sakura-san home for lunch otherwise your mother will kill me." said Inoichi.

"Alright daddy, well it was nice meeting you Naruto-kun!" Ino said and turned to leave with her dad.

When Ino was standing by her father, Sakura turned to Naruto and quietly walked up to him and placed a kiss on his cheek. Blushing she ran off to catch up with Ino but yelled over her shoulder as she was leaving.

"Bye Naru-kun, I'll see you later!" Sakura said.

Naruto just stood there for a little while with pink dusting his cheeks, when he regained his bearings he looked up at the sky and smiled, he had just made his first two friends.

* * *

Yugao had been watching everything from a rooftop across from the park, she couldn't help but smile at the actions of the blonde for defending the two girls, and giggle when they each kissed him. She decided to go talk to him so she left in a shunshin.

* * *

Naruto had just sat down on a swing when Neko appeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Well someone seems to be a little ladies man." Yugao teased with a smile behind her mask.

"Wah? But I didn't even do much, I just stuck up for them." said a confused Naruto.

"Well Naruto, sometimes thats all it takes." Yugao said in a matter of fact fashion.

Naruto just seemed to nod while looking down. Yugao noticed this and questioned him.

"What's wrong now Naru-kun?" questioned Yugao.

Naruto looked up at her with a slight sad look on his face.

"Well its just that they are the first friends I've ever made." he said quietly looking back down.

Yugao held a frown behind her mask. What she had heard from the boy was sad. Sad because it was true.

"Well little Naru-kun, I'll be your friend too. In fact when we get back to the tower I'll see about asking Hokage-sama if it's alright to tell you my identity, that way I won't have to wear my mask around you." Yugao stated.

Naruto looked up at her and smiled. He got up from the swing and hugged her.

"Thank you so much Neko-chan." Naruto said smiling making Yugao giggle and hug back.

* * *

It was a few hours later when they were heading back to the Hokage tower, Yugao had decided to play with Naruto since he didn't have anyone else to play with.

When they arrived at the tower Naruto was feeling great. Today he had made three new friends and played at the park with someone else for the first time in his life. They walked up the stairs and soon arrived in front of the double doors leading to the Hokages office. When Yugao knocked on the door, they heard the Hokage call them in.

"Welcome back Naruto, did you enjoy your time at the park?" asked Sarutobi.

Naruto looked at him with a big smile and nodded. Then Yugao stepped forward and explained there time at the park in detail.

"Ah, I see well done Naruto, it isn't everyday you save a pair of girls, let alone a clan heir and her friend. I must say I'm truly Impressed and quite proud of you." Stated Hiruzen with a genuine smile on his face.

"It was nothing jiji!" Naruto shouted embarrassed while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well you might not think so, but I'm sure the girls and Inoichi are thankful you did. Ah and I have some good news for you Naruto, I was able to find you an apartment to stay in. Now it's a little old but I made sure everything in it still works, so you should be fine there. You should be able to move in tomorrow sometime, as I have yet to furnish the place so tonight I think you might have to stay here again. I hope you won't mind." the Hokage told Naruto.

"Really old man? You mean it? I finally have a home?" said Naruto starting to tear up.

Yugao and the Hokage smiled sadly at that, but the Hokage nodded none the less.

"Yes, and I'll be taking care of the bills so you won't have to worry about that. And I'll be giving you a monthly allowance of 20,000 for food and whatever else you may need. Now I know it's not much but if you're smart and only buy what's necessary, you should be fine." Hiruzen told Naruto.

Naruto didn't even respond with words, instead he charged the old man, wrapped him in a bear hug and starting crying into his robes. Hiruzen just sat there and held the boy for what felt like hours but in truth was only a few minutes. When he looked up he noticed Yugao was still there.

"Is there something you still need Neko?" asked the old man.

"Actually yes Hokage-sama. I was wondering if it would be alright for us to reveal my identity to little Naru-kun here, I wish for him to know the real me." asked Yugao.

The Hokage seemed to ponder this for a brief while and then looked down at Naruto and noticed the expectant look he was giving. When he looked back up he nodded to Yugao.

"Very well, but first Naruto, you have to promise to keep her identity a secret, it's very important that you don't tell anyone who she is when she is wearing her cat mask, okay?" the Hokage said sternly. When he got a nod from the boy he turned to Yugao and nodded.

With that, Yugao removed her mask revealing a very pretty young woman with the same purple hair that went down to her waist. She had brown eyes and a shade of red lipstick.

"Well Naru-kun, my real name is Yugao Uzuki, but when I have the cat mask on you must always refer to me as Neko. So what did you think?" asked with a smile that was actually visible to the boy.

Naruto walked up to her and hugged her close.

"You're very pretty Yugao-chan." Naruto said happily.

Yugao held Naruto close and smiled.

"Well you're not that bad yourself." Yugao send sending him a wink and laughing at the blush on his face.

The Hokage held in his laughter and cleared his throat gaining their attention.

"Well then Yugao, if you wouldn't mind could little Naruto-kun here stay with you tonight?" the old man asked looking at Yugao.

"Sure I really wouldn't mind at all." said Yugao looking down at Naruto. "that is if he doesn't mind."

Naruto just hugged Yugao tighter.

"I don't mind Yugao-chan!" said Naruto looking up at her.

"Well alright then, I'll see the both of you tomorrow, and Yugao I'm giving you tomorrow off from any of your duties." said Hiruzen.

"Thank you Hokage-sama." said Yugao and with that she grabbed Narutos hand and shunshined home.

'_Hmm, she would've made a great mother for the boy_.' Sarutobi thought to himself once they were gone.

"Well nothing left to do now but send some genin to furnish Naruto's new apartment, and finish my paperwork." said the Hokage to no one.

* * *

The sun was already setting when Yugao and Naruto arrived in front of a small apartment building in a swirl of leaves. Naruto was wobbling back and forth, dizzy.

*giggle* "Sorry I forgot that can be disorientating the first few times." Yugao said taking hold of Naruto's hand and walking up a set of stairs.

"Here we are, room 203, home sweet home." said Yugao opening the door and walking in with Naruto in tow.

The inside of Yugao's apartment was pretty nice, to the right of the door was a small open kitchen connected to the living room. The living room had a couch up against the wall with a coffee table directly in front of it. It also had a small tv on a tv stand across the room. To the left of the door was a short hallway with four doors. Two right next to each other on the right side of the hall which lead to two separate bedrooms, the door at the end of the hall was the bathroom and the door to the left of that was a laundry room.

Yugao turned to Naruto and smiled.

"Alright Naruto, your room is down the hall first door on the right, the bathroom is at the end of the hall and my room is next to yours." Yugao said with a smile.

Naruto looked up at her and smiled, followed shortly by a yawn.

"Thank you for letting me stay here tonight Yugao-chan." Naruto said as he hugged her quick.

"Think nothing of it Naru-kun, i'm more than happy to help you when you need it, now we should probably get to bed okay Naruto?" said Yugao with a smile, receiving a nod from the boy, she lead Naruto to his room for the night.

"Now if you need anything, I'll be right in the next room okay?" Yugao stated making sure he knew she was close by if he needed anything.

Getting a nod and another yawn from the boy she turned to her room.

"Well goodnight Naru-kun, sleep well." she said, entering her room.

Naruto entered his room, it wasn't very large, which didn't matter at all to Naruto, inside the room there was a single twin sized bed with a desk next to it. The only other interests points of the room was the closet to the right of the door and a window on the far side of the room.

Naruto walked over to bed and laid down, the first think he noticed was how soft it was.

'_How long asked has it been since I've been in a bed?_' Naruto thought to himself sadly before falling into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Naruto groggily woke up to the smell of food and the sun shining bright and in his face.

'_Ugh I will destroy you someday for waking me up everyday sun, but I wouldn't mind waking up to whatever that smell is_.' Naruto thought to himself as he slowly stood up and stretched. And with that he walked over to the door and exited his room.

Upon exiting his room he noticed Yugao standing in the kitchen cooking something he had never seen before, but it was making a wonderfully sizzling noise and smelled delicious.

"Good morning Naru-kun! I see you slept well, I hope you're hungry because I made bacon and pancakes." Yugao said when she noticed Naruto exiting his room.

"Uhm yeah I slept great Yugao-chan, but what's bacon?" Naruto asked looking confused.

Yugao looked up from cooking with a huge grin.

"Ohhhhh you're going to love it! Everything will be done in a little bit, so why don't you go to the living room and wait." she said excited to watch Naruto try his first piece of bacon.

* * *

It wasn't long until the food was done and Yugao brought two plates of bacon and pancakes out to the small table that was in between the kitchen and living room.

"Alright Naruto come here, as weird as this sounds I want to watch you eat." Yugao said with a slight giggle.

When Naruto got up and walked over to the table, he was a little weirded out by her staring at him, but sat down at the table anyways. He looked at the plate and slowly reached his hand down and picked up a strip of bacon. He looked at Yugao out of the corner of his eye and noticed she was grinning which made Naruto a little nervous. She wouldn't poison him right? Well there was only one way to find out, and with that he took a small bite and chewed.

* * *

Yugao was sitting there watching Naruto chew when he just stopped, making her a little unsure if he liked or not. You couldn't cook bacon wrong right? That was until she looked back up and nearly burst out laughing when Naruto practically smashed his face on the plate consuming as much bacon as he could.

"Well I told you you'd like it, but once your done you should go shower and we can be on our way to meet with Hokage-sama later." Yugao told Naruto with a smile.

* * *

It wasn't long till all the food was gone at the rate Naruto was eating. And he had showered, brushed his teeth with a spare toothbrush Yugao had, and had gotten dressed. They were just about to leave her apartment when there was a knock at the door.

When Yugao answered it, standing there was a woman with light brown pupil-less eyes and violet hair styled in a short, spiky, fanned ponytail. She was wearing a mesh body suit that went from her neck down to her thighs, an orange mini-skirt, and a tan overcoat that didn't hide much. She was also wearing a Konaha headband. This woman was Anko Mitarashi, one of Yugaos friends.

"Yes Anko? Did you need something? I was just about to head to the Hokage tower with little Naru-kun here." said Yugao looking at the smiling face of Anko.

Anko was about tell Yugao that her and a bunch their friends were going to hang out later, and ask if she wanted to come, but stopped short when she heard that last part. She looked from Yugao down to a long haired blonde kid and back to Yugao with an evil grin.

"Well Yugao-chan, I'm all for dating younger guys, but I think you're taking it a bit far." joked Anko, really enjoying seeing both her friend's and Naruto's face flush crimson.

"Whaaa? Oh shut up Anko! Anyways we were just about to leave to go see the Hokage. So if you wouldn't mind." said Yugao a little irked at her friends joke.

"Oh? What a coincidence! I was on my way there too! We can walk together!" said Anko with a grin.

Yugao really didn't want to but she couldn't exactly say no since they were going to the same place.

* * *

The walk from Yugao's apartment to the Hokage tower was spent trying not to kill Anko for constantly making jokes about Yugao and Naruto sleeping together. Which made both Yugao and Naruto blush, much to Anko's amusement. When they arrived, they walked up the stairs and knocked on the door, where they received an "enter" from the other side. Upon entering they were greeting by the smiling face of the Hokage.

"Ah well hello again, Yugao-chan, Naruto-kun. Ah Anko-chan, what is it I can do for you?" the Hokage asked looking at her expectantly.

"Hey old man!" Anko said walking up to the Hokages desk while taking a few pieces of paper out of her coat and handing them to him. "I was able to get a confession from the woman that Yugao-chan here so graciously decided to gift me with." she said to the old man.

The Hokage looked up at her and smiled.

"Very good Anko-chan. As is expected from someone with your... Errr... talents." the old man praised.

"Thank you old man, but she wasn't even a slight challenge to crack. The next person you send better be able to take some punishment so I can have some fun." Anko told the old man with her ever present grin.

"Very well Anko if that is all, then you are dismissed." the old man said.

"Yeah old man, I'll see you around." Anko said turning and walking to the door, when she got to the door, she turned to Yugao. "Oh and Yugao, me and a few others are going to the dango shop later on, you should come too." she said turning back and heading out the door after getting a silent nod from the girl.

The Hokage turned his attention back to Yugao and Naruto.

"Okay with that taken care of, Naruto, Yugao, I'd like for you both to come with me." the old man said standing up and walking to the door.

Naruto turned to the Hokage with confusion clear on his face.

"But where are we going jiji?" he asked with curiosity.

"Why to your new apartment of course." Hiruzen stated as if it were obvious.

And with that all three of them began they walk to the boys new home.

* * *

They arrived at an old apartment building in the slums of the village. It was two stories and mostly vacant. They walked up to the second floor and down a hall until they reached a door near the end of the hall.

"Well here we are Naruto-kun." Hiruzen said opening the door and walking in followed by Yugao and Naruto.

The inside of Naruto's new apartment wasn't anything special. It had a small open kitchen straight ahead from the entryway with a living room to the left of the doorway. The living room had a couch, a coffee table and a few bookshelves filled with various books. There were two doors on the far wall of the living room. One of which lead to the bathroom and the other lead to a smell bedroom.

Once inside the Hokage turned to Naruto as him and Yugao were looking around.

"So? What do you think Naruto?" he asked hoping he didn't hate the place.

Naruto looked up at him the tearful eyes and strongly embraced the old man.

"Thank you so much for everything jiji!" Naruto said still clinging to the Hokage.

"Ah think nothing of it... It's the least I could do for you after everything you've been through." he said sadly.

Naruto spent the next hour inspecting his new home. The Hokage and Yugao had left about a half hour ago so that he could get used to the new apartment. He had checked out the bookshelf and found there to be various books on chakra theory and other educational books such as math books, history books, and even a little orange book.

When he got into his room he noticed the queen sized bed and nightstand first. He walked over to his closet and opened it to find the nine other pairs of his current outfit all neatly organized inside. All in all he really liked his new home. It symbolized a new beginning, and a fresh start to life. And with that he laid down to get some rest.

* * *

October 10th, Naruto's 7th birthday - present time

It had been a year since Naruto had moved to his new apartment. The year had gone by fast for Naruto, he had spent it either hanging out with Sakura and Ino, or spending time with Yugao and even Anko when Yugao was on a mission. He began to look up to Yugao like he would an older sister and she at him a younger brother, and he had even gotten closer to Anko, even though she'd spend a lot of the time they spent together either flirting with him or trying to maim him. Naruto had also noticed the budding rivalry between Sakura and Ino over trying to gain his affection. Which he did find funny considering he had spent his whole life hated and now had two girls chasing after him.

Currently Naruto was sitting at his windowsill with all the lights off, watching the crowd of villagers outside his apartment building grow. And with each person that gathered so too did his anxiety.

The Hokage had left already after stopping by earlier in the day and taking him to Ichiraku's for all you can eat ramen. And Yugao was out of the village on a mission. So Naruto was growing increasingly fearful of what he was almost certain was going to happen, so he locked his door and windows and snuck off to his room and hid in his closet.

It wasn't long before there was a loud pounding at Naruto's front door followed by shouts of 'Demon' and 'Monster'. As he sat in his closet, eyes tearing up, all he could do was wonder what he had ever done to deserve this. When he heard the sound of his door being busted in he was hoping for a miracle; anything that would save him from the fate that seemed to be awaiting him.

It was only a short wait filled with the sounds breaking glass and furniture being torn apart, courteous of the angry villagers trashing his apartment, before his bedroom door was kicked in. Naruto was peeking through the closet door trying his best to keep from crying as he watched the shadows enter his room. Suddenly his bedroom window exploded inward as a blur landed in the center of the room, standing there was none other than Anko Mitarashi.

* * *

Anko was walking down the street heading home after spending a bunch on purchasing a large quantity of her favorite treat. As she walked while chewing on a dango stick, she noticed a crowd of villagers bunched up around the entrance of an old apartment building.

"Well this certainly seems peculiar." Anko stated with a grin.

Deciding to check it out she took to the rooftop across from the apartment building. Peering inside one of the windows of the building she noticed it was Naruto's room. Then it clicked on what day it was and why there was a mob of villagers. Her face scrunched up in a snarl when she seen Naruto's bedroom door get kicked in. Sprinting towards the edge of the building she kicked off. Tucking herself into a ball, she barreled towards the window one thought on her mind

To kick the asses of every idiotic villager dumb enough to try and hurt Naruto.

* * *

The few villagers that had mad it into Naruto's room fell back in surprise when the window in the room suddenly exploded, sending a shower of broken glass across the room. When they looked up they noticed Anko standing there with an evil grin that just screamed a promise of pain.

"What do 'you' want snake bitch? Are you here to help us get rid of the demon brat for good? If not then just leave and we won't have to hurt you." a skinny middle aged man said with a smirk.

"Listen here you piece of shit, I happen to care about that 'demon brat' you're talking about." Anko said sending the man a death glare making him flinch. "Oh and by the way..." Anko spit the dango stick she had been chewing out like a dart impaling the mans leg causing him to scream out in pain and the other civilians to look on in shock. "If you ever call me that or try to hurt little Naruto-kun again I'll kill you." Anko stated looking completely serious.

With that she walked over to the closet and opened it revealing a shaking Naruto with unshod tears in his eyes.

"Come on gaki I'll take you to the old man." she said holding her hand out to Naruto whom quickly took it in his own and stood up. "As for everyone here, leave now or I'll send you all to the hospital with broken bones." Anko said glaring at the crowd that had accumulated in his doorway.

"You bitch! I'll kill you!" the same man from before said while rushing her with a small knife he had pulled out of his coat.

Anko didn't even flinch before letting a kunai drop out of her sleeve and into her awaiting hand. grabbing the wrist he had the knife in with her free hand and twisting it till there was an audible 'crack', then she turned and stabbed the man in the shoulder causing him to scream bloody murder. She proceeded to kick the mans knee on the side causing it to shatter and his to crumple to the floor screaming, her on-top of him, before she head-butted him knocking him out.

Standing up, she dusted her self off and turned back to the crowd who were all looking pale at what they had just seen. Slowly they started to disperse fearing what might happen to them if they stayed.

"Well that's better, always nice to work of some anger and maim a person or two." she said turning to Naruto smiling. "Okay let's go gaki, gotta let the old man know about this." she said looking at Naruto. Getting a nod from the boy she grabbed his shoulder and shunshinned to the Hokage tower.

* * *

The Third Hokage sat behind his desk with a small orange book in hand, letting out a perverted giggle every few seconds, when there was a knock at the door. Quickly throwing the book in a drawer on his desk and slamming it shut he turned his attention to the door.

"Ahem, come in!" he shouted recomposing himself.

The door opened to reveal Anko and Naruto walking in. The Hokage became serious when he seen the looks on the pairs faces.

"What's wrong Anko?" The third asked taking his pipe out of his mouth.

Anko walked up to his desk with Naruto beside her.

"Well I was just out taking a walk when I noticed a mob around Naruto-kuns building. It would seem they are looking to rid the village of him." she told the old man. "Lord Hokage, I feel it's only fair you tell Naruto why." she said glancing down at the confused face of Naruto.

The Hokages eyes widened when he heard what happened. Looking at Naruto he noticed the boy was physically fine, so he turned his attention to Anko.

"I presume I have you to thank for saving the boy then?" the Hokage asked. Receiving a nod from her he breathed a sigh of relief. "Well I'll send a team of anbu to investigate this." the old man said making a small hand gesture signaling the anbu in the room to go investigate.

"jiji why do they all hate me?" Naruto asked looking down at the floor. "was it something I did? Or did my parents do something bad to make the whole village hate me?" he said with tears starting to fall from his eyes.

The Hokages eyes widened at hearing him ask that.

"No! Naruto-kun you did nothing wrong my boy!" the Hokage sighed and looked down at the young boy. "Naruto I'm going to tell you a secret about your birth and you may not like it, but I think at this point it's best if you hear it from me." Hiruzen stated looking at the young blond boy.

Naruto looked up with a shocked look on his face. So there was something different about him, something that needed to be kept a secret. For all his life he had wondered why he was hated so much and he was finally going to find out. He looked up at the old man with an expectant look in his eyes.

The Hokage looked down at Naruto with a small grimace for what he was about to drop on the boy.

"Naruto the truth is, seven years ago on the day you were born the village was attacked..."

* * *

**And there's chapter one!**

**Now remember I have never written anything before, this is my first attempt at writing. But I'd really appreciate if you would leave a comment letting me know how I did, if you noticed any plot holes, or even what you'd like to see in the next chapter!**

**Thank you all for reading, until next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I'm really surprised by the number of follows and favorite for my first chapter, all I can say is thank you all, and I hope you enjoy chapter two!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters.**

* * *

**Naruto the Fox Boy**

**- Chapter two -**

The Hokage looked down at Naruto with a small grimace for what he was about to drop on the boy.

"Naruto the truth is, seven years ago on the day you were born the village was attacked..."

Naruto looked up surprised and a little confused about what that had to do with him, but sat quietly, waiting for the old man to continue.

"Now I wasn't the Hokage at the time all this happened, the Hokage at that time was a man by the name of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage. The village at the time had just gotten out of the Third great shinobi war and was still recovering, when a great beast, by the title of the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked the village." Hiruzen stated, looking down at the boy.

Naruto had a shocked look on his face, he hadn't known about this before. It only proved to confuse him more. What did a giant nine tailed fox have to do with him? Last time he checked he didn't even have one tail.

"Now Naruto the Kyuubi is a demon of immense power and can't be killed by normal means as it is a construct of pure chakra. If we were able to defeat the Kyuubi it would only reconstruct somewhere else in a few years. No, the Fourth Hokage had watched it decimate the village and kill countless shinobi, he wasn't about to let a creature so evil be free to do so ever again. So he decided to seal it away. Now the creature was so powerful it couldn't be sealed inside an object, it had to be sealed inside a human child, one whose chakra pathways were still growing." Hiruzen looked down to Naruto to make sure he was understanding what the old man was talking about.

Naruto looked even more shocked that a demon so powerful existed in the world, and was starting to get an idea as to where this story was headed.

The Hokage noticed Naruto was still paying attention, so he decided to continue.

"The Fourth had sealed away half of the beasts chakra away inside of himself with the help of the Shiki fujin, and the other half inside the body of the only child born that day... You." Hiruzen finished looking down at Naruto awaiting his reaction.

Naruto sat there eyes wide at what he had just been told. The fourth Hokage had sealed a great beast inside of him, a monster that had destroyed a large portion of Konaha. He sat for awhile pondering this, then looked up at the Hokage with tear filled eyes.

"So I really am a demon, a monster..." Naruto whispered, looking down with tears falling from his eyes.

Both Hiruzen and Anko's eyes widened at hearing him say that.

"No! Absolutely not! You are not a demon!" The Hokage stated quickly.

Naruto looked up in surprise.

Then Anko spoke up.

"Of course not gaki, you'd have to be a fool to honestly believe that. You're a damn hero! You're the one holding the Kyuubi back from killing us all!" Anko said smiling at the blond.

"Indeed you are my boy, you are not the Kyuubi, you are it's jailor." The Hokage said reaching down and pulling a scroll and a kunai from his desk. He placed the scroll on his desk and unrolled it, revealing a seal on the paper. "Now Naruto this is a sealing scroll, it works in the same fashion as the seal placed on you to keep the beast at bay, just not as complex." He stated gaining Naruto's attention.

He then placed the kunai on the paper and applied chakra, and in a puff of smoke the kunai was gone.

"If I place the kunai on the paper and seal it away, the paper does not become the kunai, it simply stores it away. In many ways, your seal does the same thing. And Anko is right, you are not a demon, but a hero of this great village." Hiruzen stated with a smile.

"So me and the Kyuubi are still completely separate?" Naruto asked, slightly confused.

"Yes my boy. You are what is called a Jinchuriki, a human sacrifice, and you are the one that keeps the rest of us safe." he told Naruto. "I'm truly sorry that this burden has been placed on you, but the fourth had great hopes for you; he believed that you'd grow up to be someone that would change this world. His last wish was that you be seen as a hero. Now even though not everyone sees you as such, I know that someday you will change that." Said the Hokage with a proud smile.

Naruto looked up with wide eyes at both of the adults in the room. He, Naruto Uzumaki, was the only thing keeping the Kyuubi from destroying the village. And by just being alive was already helping the entire village, even if they didn't thank him and chose to believe he was the demon and not it's jailer. Never the less it still made him happy that his existence actually mattered.

His eyes began to water causing Anko and Hiruzen to wonder if they had said something wrong, but soon he began to laugh.

Anko and Hiruzen shared a look, wondering why the young blond was laughing, but the answer was soon given when Naruto's laughter died down to a chuckle, and he looked up with a small smile and eyes beaming with pride.

"Thank you... Thank you for telling me, and thank you for believing in me old man! I promise on my life I wont let you down! Believe it!" Naruto told the Hokage with conviction.

The Hokage gave a small chuckle at Naruto, "I know you wont my boy." he said fatherly, but then looked at Naruto with a serious expression on his face.

"Now Naruto, I passed a law that forbade anyone from talking about the Kyuubi. I did so to protect you and perhaps allow you to make some friends, now I'm leaving it up to you on who you tell about the Kyuubi." Hiruzen stated, looking unsure if it would be wise to let the secret out to the new generation.

Naruto looked unsure for a second, but then spoke up.

"I don't think telling anyone else is a good idea right now jiji, if the other kids are anything like their parents then I think it's safe to guess how that would turn out. But I do eventually want to tell everyone. I want to be able to be proud of who I am, and not have to fear what they think of me."

Hiruzen's eyes widened slightly at the wisdom the boy had just shown, but quickly smiled.

"Well then I guess that's settled. But now that you know about the Kyuubi I think it's safe to enact a plan I had set for you." He stated confusing both Naruto and Anko.

"What do you mean old man?" Asked the concerned looking Anko.

"What I mean is, now that he knows about the Kyuubi, I'd like for him to visit Inoichi and receive the training he'll need to enter his mind-scape to try and communicate with the Kyuubi. With any luck I believe he might be able to shed some light on why the fox attacked the village. Afterwards I plan on having young Naruto here undertake some shinobi training." The Hokage said taking a puff from his pipe.

"Does this mean I can become a ninja jiji?" Naruto asked looking up with hope in his eyes.

"Yes it does Naruto, actually I already set things up. When Yugao gets back we will begin your training, I've set it up so that you'll be training under Yugao for the next few years, then we'll enroll you in the academy. Now normaly you'd enter the academy next year, but I feel with your apprenticeship it should only be necessary for you to attend the last year to get to know the children your age. Does that sound alright Naruto?" The Hokage asked Naruto.

"YATTA! I'm going to be a ninja!" Naruto yelled with exuberance as he made punching motions with his hands.

The Hokage chuckled and Anko sweat dropped at his antics.

"Uhm yeah... Right, well anyways Naruto-kun, how would you like to stay with me tonight?" Anko asked with a smile.

Naruto immediately stopped his dancing around and looked at her with a blank stare. "Are you insane woman? Why would I willingly stay with someone who's always messing with me?" Naruto deadpanned.

The Hokage sat watching with an amused smirk on his face as Anko pouted, arms crossed and head turned.

"Oh come on gaki, I don't always mess with you. Besides, it's just a little teasing, no harm done." Anko rebutted, looking back at Naruto with a smirk.

"Yeah, if you think making inappropriate jokes, or cutting me and drinking my blood, no harm done." Naruto said head turned to the side with an annoyed expression on his face.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow at that last part, looking at Anko.

Anko chuckled nervously. She then quickly turned to Naruto and shot him an annoyed look. "As a matter of fact little Naruto, It just so happens that I do!" She huffed with a tone of annoyance.

"Doesn't make you any less crazy..." Naruto said under his breath.

Even though it was said little more than a whisper, Anko had still caught what had been said. "What was that you little shit!?" Anko fumed, lifting one sleeve and making a fist and sending Naruto a death glare.

Naruto's eyes widened as he backed up slowly arms held up in a placating manner as Anko took a step forward. But before anything could go any further, they were interrupted by a cough from the Hokage.

"Ahem, if I'm not interrupted anything I'd like to finish up here already. Now Naruto Anko is right, once more I can't allow so to stay by yourself tonight, so Anko will be staying with you." The Hokage told the boy.

Naruto looked at him confused.

"But what about my apartment jiji? The place is trashed, there's no way I can stay there." Naruto asked a look of confusion etched on his face.

"Ah, don't worry about that, I had the anbu I sent earlier clean the place, so it should be alright." He told the boy. He then turned his head toward Anko. "As for you, I am assigning you to stay with him for the next few days as a body guard, at least until the villagers calm down. This will be considered an C-rank mission." The Hokage told Anko.

"Hear that gaki? I get to stay with you, so you'll have plenty of time to apologize for calling me crazy." She said with a feral grin.

Naruto looked completely horrified, he looked at the old man for help but he was looking off to the side whistling. Naruto glared at the old man grumbling. Sighing Naruto turned to Anko, "Alright fine, let's just go already."

Smiling triumphantly, Anko walked up to Naruto. Grabbing his shoulder they were gone in a swirl of leaves.

Once they were gone, the Hokage looked down at the paperwork that still had to be done and cried anime tears.

* * *

When they arrived in Naruto's apartment, they noticed all the new furniture. there was replacements of everything Naruto's apartment held before the attack.

With that, Naruto turned to Anko.

"Alright well I'm going to bed, you get the couch." He said with a yawn, turning to leave, but a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Not so fast gaki, I think this is a good way to say you're sorry. How about I get the bed and YOU get the couch?" Anko asked with a grin.

Naruto quickly turned around, "What!? No way! It's my damn bed!" Naruto Defended.

Anko looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Well, it's either that, or we BOTH could always share the bed Na~ru~to~." She said cooing his name.

Naruto immediately turned around and walked to the couch.

"You know, I really hate you sometimes." He said as he resigned himself to his fate.

"Aww don't be like that Naruto-kun, you'll grow to love me eventually." She said stepping into his room and turning around. "Anyways, goodnight Naruto." She said as she closed the door.

Laying down on the couch, Naruto sighed, he really didn't hate her at all. Its just that her antics could always be a bit much to handle. And with that he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next few days had been fairly boring. There were only a few attempts on Naruto's life that had been handled quickly and with brutal efficiency by an irritable Anko.

Anko had spent much of their time together complaining about there being nothing to do and pestering Naruto about how boring his life was.

They currently sat in the Hokage's office once more, sitting across from the old man.

Hiruzen smiled at the pair, "Hello once again you two, seems we've been seeing a lot of each other as of lately, but Naruto, I called you here so we can try to enter your mind-scape." The Hokage explained.

Naruto sat in his chair looking a little nervous, "Jiji are you sure this is a good idea?" He asked looking unsure.

The Hokage looked at him and nodded slightly, "Inoichi informed me it should be completely, or at least for the most part, completely safe. It is your mind after all, you'd be in complete control of everything going on, from the look of your mind-scape, to possibly even to controlling the Kyuubi.

Naruto eased up slightly at hearing that, his greatest fear in doing this was not being in control, and having the Kyuubi escape to destroy his village.

"Okay jiji, I guess I'm as ready as I can possibly be." Admitted Naruto.

The Hokage leaned back in his chair, "Alright, well I have already prepared things with Inoichi, so we should be able to go see him soon. He should be waiting for us at the hospital, I chose to do this there so that we'd be ready if anything happens." The Hokage informed Naruto.

He then turned his head to look at Anko, "You'll be joining us Anko-chan, since you already know about what we're doing it'd be nice to have you there to help keep the room we'll be using secure."

Receiving a nod from the snake mistress, he stood up and headed towards the door, "Well then, let's be on our way shall we?" He said with a smile.

* * *

The trip to the hospital was uneventful, besides the glares the boy received, it was a fairly short walk.

Upon arriving they were greeted by smiling Inoichi.

"Hello hokage-sama, Anko-chan and of course little Naruto." Inoichi said with a smile. Noticing Naruto's nervousness, he then turned his full attention towards Naruto. "Me and my family would really like if you'd come over for dinner sometime." Inoichi offered.

Naruto looked up with a bright smile, all worries about meeting the Kyuubi forgotten, replaced by the thought of eating with one of his best friends and her family. Still smiling he nodded.

The Hokage smiled at Inoichi's action, stepped forward, "I trust we can begin now?" He asked.

Inoichi turned his attention back to the Hokage, "Yes lord Hokage." Inoichi stated, and with that he turned and started walking.

They walked down a flight of stairs into the basement of the hospital and approached a metal door. Upon reaching it the Hokage went into his robes and pulled out a key, unlocking the door, they entered the room.

The inside of the room wasn't anything special, it was a medium sized room with white walls, it was about the same size as Naruto's living room. The room didn't have any windows and the only things in the room was a hospital bed on the opposite side of the room, some plants that had been brought in and some medical equipment.

"Now Naruto, Inoichi will be the one explaining to you how to enter your mind. Anko and I will both be right outside the door waiting, alright?" The Hokage informed the young boy, who gave a nod of acknowledgement.

After receiving a nod from the boy Hiruzen turned to Inoichi, "Whenever you're ready." The Hokage announced.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Inoichi replied, before turning to Naruto, "Now Naruto, the method I'm going to show you isn't really a shinobi technique, more like a style of meditation." Inoichi informed.

Seeing that they were ready to begin, Hiruzen turned around and headed out the door with a reluctant Anko in tow.

Once they were both outside the room, Anko turned to the Hokage with slight signs of worry showing on her face, "If you don't mind me asking old man, why is it that we aren't in there making sure nothing goes wrong?" She asked not understanding the reasoning.

The Hokage smiled slightly at the concern Anko showed towards the boy.

"Relax Anko-chan, we're only out here as not to distract Naruto from meditating. Inoichi will make sure everything goes smoothly." He replied, attempting to sooth her worries.

Anko sighed and looked back at the metal door, concern showing in her eyes.

'_You better be alright when this is all over gaki_.' Anko thought worriedly, a feeling of dread creeping up her spine.

* * *

Back inside the room, Inoichi had just finished explaining the meditation process and had Naruto sitting on the bed surrounded by plants. He had explained to the boy that all he really had to was relax until he felt at peace and then picture himself falling and it'd be done.

Naruto sat in bed, eyes closed legs crossed and taking deep breaths. It wasn't long before Naruto felt at ease, and with that he made a mental image of himself falling.

While Naruto was picturing himself falling, out of the never ending darkness came what appeared to be ground. Naruto began to panic slightly as he approached the ground. Upon hitting it, Naruto noticed it didn't hurt at all and that he was still alive.

Standing up Naruto took a look around him and noticed he was in what appeared to be some sort of sewer system.

"Oh awesome, my mind is a damn sewer. That can't mean anything good." Naruto stated to himself with a sweat drop.

With nothing better to do Naruto began walking down the long tunnels of his mind.

* * *

He hadn't been walking more than 15 minutes when he came upon a giant room lit by torches along the walls, and directly in front of him were what appeared to be bars. The bars had a small piece of paper with the kanji for 'seal' on it.

Suddenly the loud booming voice made itself known as a pair of giant red slit eyes opened from the darkness. Soon the figure of a giant red fox with nine large red tails swinging behind it approached the bars.

**"Ah, so my jailer has decided to grace me with his presence."** The voiced boomed, in a mocking manner.

Naruto's eyes widened significantly, "Y-you're the Ky-yuubi!" Naruto said pointing a finger at the giant fox.

The fox sweat dropped a little at that.

**"Of course I am foolish ningen. How many other foxes do you know that have nine tails?"** The fox asked rhetorically. **"So tell me ningen, why is it that you're here?"** The fox asked honestly curious.

Naruto looked a little less afraid, since the fox didn't appear to be trying to kill him. Slowly but surely Naruto took a few steps forward, "I'm here to ask why you attacked the village seven years ago!" Naruto asked fiercely. "Tell me why... Why did you kill all those people!? Do you know what my life has been like because of you!?" Naruto shouted tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

**"Huh? What's this now? You ask why it was that I attacked your village all those years ago? Well fine, I shall indulge your curiosity. The answer is simple really, I did not attack of my own free will, I was under the control of that wretched masked man. He came and ripped me out of my previous host."** The Kyuubi said with anger and what almost seemed like sadness lacing it's voice. **"And as for how you're life has been, no, no I don't have a clue about any of that."** The Kyuubi stated.

Naruto looked completely shocked, he couldn't believe that a creature as powerful as Kyuubi could be controlled. Looking up at the fox Naruto asked another question.

"There's no way that's true! How could a simple man control you? Aren't you like all powerful?" Naruto asked not understanding how that could be possible.

The Kyuubi growled lowly, **"DON'T YOU DARE ACCUSE ME OF LYING NINGEN!"** The Kyuubi's voice boomed throughout Naruto's mind-scape, making Naruto take a frightened step back. **"He did it with those damn wretched red eyes of his, the eyes that spin."** The Kyuubi said much quieter, but with just as much anger.

Naruto seemed not to understand, but never the less noted what the Kyuubi had told him, so he could inform the old man later.

The Kyuubi sighed, **"Honestly once I was free, I would've been content with just leaving this village. Believe it or not, but I actually cared about my previous vessel. Even though I hated this wretched village for imprisoning me, I could not in good consciousness destroy it. She was different then the rest of you foolish mortals, she was always kind to me when she'd visit me. Sure I started out cursing her for imprisoning me once more, but I guess over time, slowly but surely I grew attached to her. I grew to enjoy times shed visit."** The Kyuubi stated seemingly forgetting that Naruto was still standing before the cage listening.

It was then that Naruto remembered the Kyuubi mentioning having a previous vessel earlier.

"Uhm Kyuubi, who was your previous host? I thought I was your only host." Naruto asked in curiosity.

The Kyuubi looked back down at the boy below, seemingly remembering he was there.

**"Hmm, I suppose I could tell you. Her name was Kushina, Kushina Uzumaki, and you are actually my third host."** The Kyuubi stated not thinking much of it.

Naruto's eyes were wide open now.

"D-did y-you say Uzumaki?" Naruto asked shocked.

The Nine-Tails looked at the boy curiously, **"Yes I indeed did ningen, why does it matter?"**

"My n-name is N-Nar-ruto, Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto stated shakily. "Do you think she could have been my m-mother?" Naruto asked with hope in his eyes.

The kyuubi's eyes widened at hearing that, it knew that Kushina had been pregnant around the time everything went to shit. Looking down at the boy, the Kitsune noticed the similarities the boy shared with not just Kushina but also with the blonde haired man that she had been with on that night.

**"I believe she might have been kit."** The Kyuubi stated changing from calling the boy ningen.

Naruto looked completely shocked, he had just possibly found out who his mother was, turning to the Kyuubi Naruto asked what had always been on his mind.

"Can... can you please tell me about her?" Naruto asked with hope.

**"Maybe some other time kit, you should probably ask that old monkey, the Third Hokage for information, but for now I wish to give you something."** The Kyuubi said with a small smile.

Naruto looked a little sad for a second before asking, "What is it?"

The Kyuubi looked at the boy before it, the child of Kushina Uzumaki, its first ever mortal friend.

**"I wish to give you a small portion of my power."** the Kyuubi stated with no trace of deception in its voice. **"But I wish for something in return, I want you to allow me access to your senses."** The great fox requested.

Naruto looked unsure for a second before nodding slightly, "Alright, how do I do that?" Naruto asked.

**"Simple really, all you have to do is tear a small corner off the seal on my cage, I'll do the rest."** The Kyuubi informed.

Looking a bit hesitant Naruto approached the seal, the water in the room lifting him to the seal. Reaching an arm out, Naruto gripped the corner of the seal and proceeded to tear a small corner off.

Suddenly Naruto felt immense pain in his stomach, looking down he noticed a seal on his stomach, and noticed that it was changing.

Looking up at the fox Naruto rasped out in pained breaths, "What's happening!?, it hurts, it hurts so much!"

The Kyuubi looked down at the boy, **"Oh relax would you? I said I was going to give you a bit of my power didn't I? Well simply put my energy is changing your body to be compatible, it should stop hurting by the time you wake up."**

Naruto wanted to ask what the fox meant, but realized that everything was growing dark, soon Naruto had passed out.

* * *

Back inside the room Inoichi sat a little worried, as Naruto's body twitched, it had only been about 20 minutes when suddenly Naruto was enveloped in a blast of red chakra, throwing Inoichi back against the door.

* * *

Outside the room Anko and the Hokage sat patiently waiting to be called back inside the room when they heard a loud boom followed by the 'clunk' of something hitting the door. immediately rushing inside they immediately noticed that Naruto had been enveloped in a shroud a red chakra that seemed to be taking shape, they also noticed the body of an unconscious Inoichi slumped against the door.

Their eyes widened when they noticed the chakra was forming the shape of a tail, and what appeared to be ears on top of his head.

Anko turned to the Hokage, "WHAT DO WE DO!?" She asked frantically.

The Hokage looked pale, here he was in front of what appeared to be the Kyuubi escaping, and all he could think was 'Oh shit, Naruto.'

Turning to Anko, he looked unsure, "I- I don't know..." The Hokage Said terrified of what he might have just caused, and that he might have sent Naruto to his death.

Suddenly there was a blinding light, causing both Anko and Hiruzen to look away. When the light died down they both looked back and simultaneously both their jaws dropped open.

There before them, was Naruto, only now he had a solid fluffy tail and two fox ears on his head.

Immediately rushing over to the boy, they stood anxiously, awaiting to either fight, or crush the boy in a hug.

The seconds ticked away and nothing happened. A few minutes had passed when finally they heard a gasp come from the boys body, looking closely at him, they waited for any other signs that the Kyuubi might have taken over his body, when his eyes slowly opened, revealing shining blue slitted eyes looking back at them. Their fears immediately left when they heard what the boy muttered next.

"Jiji... Anko..." He said before passing out into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

**AND THERE'S CHAPTER 2**

**Really hope you all liked this chapter a little more, and thank you all for reading!**

**PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW ON WHAT YOU THOUGHT.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Okay, so sorry about this chapter being so amazingly late... I'd give an excuse as to why, but truth is I was just being lazy and procrastinated a lot. So yeah, at least I finally finished it, and it's not to short either!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters.**

* * *

**Naruto the Fox Boy**

**- Chapter three -**

"What do you mean Naruto's in a coma!?" A worried Yugao demanded as she sat across from the Hokage. She had just finished giving her mission report when the Hokage had sat her down and informed her of Naruto's current condition.

Hiruzen internally cringed, he now had to tell her just _why_ it was that Naruto was in a coma, and he _really_ didn't want to let her know that he had actually sent Naruto, a seven year old boy, to try and talk to a 100 meter tall demon fox.

Resigning himself to his fate, he looked at her and began to retell the events that had occurred up until Anko and Naruto's visiting him.

"-Now once they had arrived here, Anko and I agreed it would only benefit the boy if he learned from us why the villagers view him the way they do." He explained, receiving a reluctant nod of agreement from Yugao. "So after I informed Naruto about the Kyuubi, I had Naruto enter his mind-scape and attempt to talk to the Kyuubi-" He began, but before he could continue he was interrupted.

"YOU DID WHAT!?" Yugao shouted, banging her fists on his desk. "How could you knowingly have little Naru-kun try something as foolish as that!?"

Hiruzen sighed, he had really underestimated the bond that had developed between the two. Sending her a stern gaze, he raised his arm in a manner that demanded silence.

"Calm yourself Yugao, it would do you good to remember who you are speaking to." He said with authority.

Realization finally struck Yugao, as she visibly settled down.

"My apologies Hokage-sama." Yugao said bowing her head. "It's just I've grown close to Naruto, and I can't think of a valid reason to make a move that would put him in so much danger..." She said dejectedly.

The Hokage finally let himself relax as well.

"I understand Yugao, but Inoichi and I had both theorized that it should have been safe for the most part, as he should of had complete and total control of his mind..." Hiruzen said giving a slight pause before he spoke up again. "Either way that is irrelevant now, I was informed by the head of the hospital earlier today that he should be waking up soon; it seems that the cause of the coma was a severe case of mental exhaustion." He informed her.

Looking up, Yugao began, "Well that's great, so everything should be alright then?" She asked hopefully.

Hiruzen frowned slightly, "Yes well, while the exhaustion explains the coma, it doesn't quite explain his other uhm... _problem_." He finished hesitantly as he looked at Yugao.

Yugao's eyes narrowed at that, "What other 'problem' are you referring to? If I may be so bold as to ask." Yugao asked, worry and a hint of anger lacing her voice.

"Well we aren't sure what has caused it, but it seems Naruto now has extra... well... appendages." The Hokage said giving a slight pause between words as he awaited her outburst.

Yugao sat there, a look of confusion on marring her face, "What?... What do you mean extra appendages? Like more fingers and toes?" Yugao asked confused, wondering what exactly was going on with Naruto.

The Hokage sat wondering how he could word the fact that Naruto had grown a tail and ears when his answer appeared on the windowsill.

* * *

Jiraiya had gotten the news that he was needed back in Konaha a week prior via messenger hawk. In the note he had received from the Hokage, all that was stated was that he was needed back in Konaha and that it was urgent. Fearing the worst, the toad sage had left immediately.

So here he was sitting in the windowsill of the Hokage's office, looking at the two occupants in the room with concern, "Yo, I got your letter sensei, what happened?" He asked looking at the old man.

Hiruzen sighed a breath of relief, "Relax Jiraiya, the situation isn't too bad, at least I don't believe it to be." He said gaining a confused look from Jiraiya. "It's Naruto, he's currently In the hospital, in a coma."

Jiraiya looked wide eyed at that, "Seriously? what happened? Is this why your letter said it was urgent?" He asked, receiving a nod from the old man.

"Yes, well the situation certainly has the potential to become urgent; I need you to check the boys seal." The Hokage informed the Toad Sage. "In fact, now would be an excellent opportunity for us all to head down to the hospital and visit him."

Both Jiraiya and Yugao looked concerned over what they had just been informed of; if the boys seal had weakened even in the slightest, it could spell disaster for the entire village in the near future. With that one statement, the severity of the situation was spelled out for both of them.

Yugao had a worried look on her face; while Jiraiya's held a look of grim understanding.

Turning to both of them, Hiruzen continued, "While I'm fairly certain that the boy is fine, it's his appearance that truly has me concerned; You'll both understand when you see him." The Hokage finished. Receiving nods from both the other occupants of the room, Hiruzen stood up alongside the others and they left in a quick shunshin.

* * *

Upon arriving just outside the hospital, the three entered the building and quickly made it to Naruto's room; his room was still located in the basement, but was now guarded by a pair of the Hokage's Anbu.

As they approached, the Hokage nodded to the Anbu and made a few one handed signs, verifying that he was the Hokage. Removing the key from his robes once more he unlocked the door and entered the room, closely followed by Jiraiya and Yugao.

Once they had all entered the room both Jiraiya and Yugao had their eyes wide, there laying on the bed wasn't the Naruto either had remembered; instead laying their with his eyes closed was a boy with the same long golden hair, but this time he had two long furry ears poking out on top of his head; His once thin body, now more comparable to that of a runners, and most notable of all was the long fluffy golden orange tail sticking out the bottom of his hospital gown.

Their eyes gravitated from the boy laying in the bed, to the Hokage, asking for answers.

Understanding what was expected, the Hokage started, "Shortly after he had entered his mind, there was an explosion of power, similar to the foxes, but it soon faded away, and what was left was...well..._this_." The Hokage said, sending a glance at the boy laying in the hospital bed. "I'm not sure what happened, and I don't believe the fox to be breaking free, but when I took a look at his seal myself, it appeared to have changed."

Hearing that, Jiraiya approached the bed and pulled the gown away. Applying chakra to the boys stomach where the seal was located, the sealing array appeared. But what shocked Jiraiya was that the seal really had changed... _a lot_. The swirl was still there but instead of being surrounded by the set of four symbol seals, it was surrounded by three solid black rings, and the symbols for fire, water, earth, lightning, and wind, circling the outermost ring.

Jiraiya looked back at the Hokage, "Hmm, you really weren't joking, this is practically an entirely new seal, I have no idea what it does though." He stated, a look of thoughtfulness on his face. "I should be able to find out, but it could take years, I think our best bet is to just ask the boy if knows anything when he wakes up."

Hiruzen sighed, "I was afraid of that, well I guess for now all we can do is hope everything turns out alright." With a sigh he turned to Yugao, whom had been standing by Naruto's bedside holding his hand. "Yugao, I'd appreciate if you would locate Anko and inform her that Naruto should awaken within a few days. She's been rather worried about the boy since the beginning." He requested.

Yugao nodded in reply, "Hai Hokage-sama." She said, sending a quick silent prayer for her surrogate little brother figure, before heading for the door.

The Hokage sighed as he turned a tired looking face towards Jiraiya, "Well this has turned into one giant mess." He stated as he rubbed his temples to rid himself of the oncoming headache.

Jiraiya nodded, still looking at the changes the boy showed, "Yeah, but Naruto's not the only bad news there is..." Jiraiya stated, looking up at the Hokage with a grim expression. "I've gotten news of a group calling themselves Akatsuki, seems that the group is made up of all S-rank criminals."

The Hokage sighed once more, for seemingly the hundredth time that day.

"Alright, well we can discuss this back at my office, no need to disturb Naruto, Kami knows he's going to be distressed enough when he wakes up." Hiruzen said. Sighing once more, he nodded to Jiraiya and they both headed for the door.

Just before exiting, Hiruzen looked back at the boy laying in the bed and thought to himself.

_'You better be alright in there Naruto.'_

* * *

Within Naruto's mind, Naruto slowly awoke with a yawn, stretching his limbs across the queen sized bed he lay in. Since arriving, he had changed his mind-scape to that of a large forest for the Kyuubi, with a small cabin for himself. Both he and the fox had at first been confused as to what had happened, but a guess was soon made by the fox.

**Flashback start**

Naruto had once again found himself inside the sewer like tunnels of his mind. Confused, He slowly began heading towards where the Kyuubi's cage was located.

Upon arrival in front of the cage, he was met with the form of a sleeping Kyuubi. Even though the great beast was laying down, head on its paws, Naruto still had to look up in order to look at the sleeping foxes face.

Taking a deep breath in, Naruto proceeded to make himself known, "Hey fox! why am I here again!?" A confused Naruto yelled into the cage.

Cracking an eye open, the fox looked at Naruto, **"Keep it down kit, I was trying to rest."** The demon fox stated with a yawn, a moment later continuing, **"As for why you're here, well that's a good question kit, but I'm honestly not sure."** The fox seemed to think about it for a moment before looking back down at the small child before him. **"My only guess is it has something to do with me changing your body."**

Naruto looked up at the giant fox, confusion clear on his face, "What do you mean, changed my body?" He asked, a hint of concern becoming visible in the boys eyes.

The Kyuubi looked at the boy with question, **"You mean you really haven't noticed?"** a moment passed before, with a glint in his narrow eyes, a devious grin crept across his face. **"Take a look at your ass, kit."**

Confused Naruto turned his head and looked behind him, and with both eyes widening, quickly froze. Finally aware of the tail sticking out from behind him, Naruto looked to the Kyuubi with wide eyes... and fainted.

The Kyuubi, for all it's power and bloodlust, couldn't keep from bursting out into a fit of booming laughter; The boys reaction had been better than he had originally expected.

A few quick minutes had passed when Naruto had finally awoke. Standing up and shaking his head to clear his confusion, he looked up from the ground at the still chuckling fox, but for all the thoughts currently plaguing the boys mind, the only thing he was able to get out was a simple, "How?"

Finally having regained its composer, the fox looked at down at the young child before him, and released a sigh.

**"As I told you before, my power would have to change your body to be compatible, thus the tail and ears. Now the reason for the change is simple, my chakra is that of a demon fox's, we foxes have tenketsu, as you humans have named them, throughout our whole body, the same as you humans do. My guess is that since you didn't have a tail for the chakra I gave you to travel through, it condensed and made one. Meaning the bit of power I gave you is all but gone now."** He said as he rested his head on his paws once more. **"Though it should only take about a day or so at the most to replenish."** The fox added as an afterthought.

Having gazed back down upon finishing its explanation, the Kyuubi let out a long sigh when he noticed the young half demon touching the ears on top of his head. With a slight shaking of its massive head, the Kyuubi looked at the blonde boy through the large bars separating the two as he turned his attention towards trying to help the boy adjust to the changes. **"Do you have any questions kit?"** The great beast asked the small boy, trying to figure if he was gonna be okay with the changes.

Nodding slightly, while still fiddling with both his new ears, Naruto spoke up. "Yeah... I get why my body changed, but why does it feel so... natural?" He asked, in idle curiosity.

The fox tilted its head slightly to the side as he answered, **"I wouldn't know kit, I've never been anything but a fox. My guess would be it's because the chakra your body uses now is simply used to flowing the way it does."** The Kyuubi stated. **"Though that doesn't matter right now, I'm guessing that it's going to take your body and mind a bit of time to adjust, so I might as well use this time to tell you about your mother, and maybe we could train you in the use of your tail's abilities afterwards."** The Kyuubi said, peeking down at the boys shocked yet happy face.

As Naruto sat pondering all the information he had taken in in the past 20 minutes, the fox seemed to think of another important matter.

**"Before we do anything though, you should probably do something about the state of your mind, it'd be rather hard to train like this... Plus I'm sick of this fucking sewer... So I was thinking trees, lots and lots of trees..."**

With that it wasn't long before Naruto had changed the layout of his mind-scape, having remembered what the old man had said about his control over what was essentially his own imagination.

**Flashback end**

Naruto had learned a lot about his mother from the giant fox demon in the week that had passed. He had learned that she was Konaha's Red Death, which the Kyuubi was proud to tell him. Even though the Kyuubi wasn't completely evil anymore, he still refused to have a weak vessel, which was half the reason he had given Naruto some of his power. Naruto had also learned that she had an ability to condense her chakra to make near indestructible chains. This news had excited the young child, as he had been told it was a Uzumaki bloodline and that there was a chance he would have it.

Other than learning about his heritage from what little the fox knew from Kushina, they had also spent the week starting his training in the use of his tail. The Kyuubi had informed Naruto that his tail was special, and that all he needed to do to ignite his tail in a cloud of fire, was build up chakra throughout his tail and release it. While the technique wasn't too complicated, it did require a fair bit of chakra to do.

The training had been difficult at first as Naruto didn't know how to access his chakra, and the fox had never had a human body before, but it was soon figured out with some trial and error using a theory the Kyuubi had come up with from being a demon fox made up of condensed chakra.

It wasn't long before Naruto had unlocked his chakra, and within two days he was comfortable gathering it in different parts of his body. Once he was used to moving his chakra around his body, him and the Kyuubi had began his training in using his tail.

* * *

Naruto sat up from his bed with a yawn as the sun shone through the window. It had been a week since Naruto had found himself once more inside his mind, and in that week Naruto had effectively learned to use some of the abilities his tail provided. With the help of the Kyuubi, Naruto had finally mastered igniting his tail, and learned a few of the different applications that doing so provided. He could use it to form fireballs, use it to spew flames like a flamethrower, or simply leave it ignited and strike with it as a weapon in of itself.

When Naruto inquired to the Kyuubi as to why he was even teaching him, the Kyuubi had stated that it was to help keep them both alive in the future. When the Kyuubi had seen the boys confused face, the Nine-Tails had stated that the path of a jinchuriki was never a pleasant one, and that he had no intent on letting harm befall the offspring of his late friend Kushina. Naruto was slightly worried about what his future would entail, but didn't voice it, as the Kyuubi had practically promised his protection.

Having used his control over his mind to get dressed in his standard black shirt and pants, Naruto stepped outside. As he stood in the doorway for a brief second, he felt the refreshing sensation of the wind and warm sun against his skin, with a stretch of his arms and a yawn, he opened his eyes, ready to begin his day.

Stepping down the stairs on the porch of the cabin, Naruto walked down a short path and began to venture through the forest. As Naruto ventured through the grassy underbrush of the forest, he headed towards the sounds of loud breathing coming from up ahead. It wasn't a long walk before he came across a massive clearing carved out of the sea of trees in which the Kyuubi lay strewn across, fast asleep.

Naruto let out an annoyed sigh seeing that the Kyuubi was still asleep, but as he sat contemplating what to do, he suddenly got an idea. With a mischievous smirk he moved his tail to his side, and with a bit of concentration had it ignited in a cloud of orange flames. Pointing his tail at the beast he added more chakra to the tip, and with a flick of his tail had sent a small foot wide ball of flame at the Kyuubi. As the ball of fire was a second away striking the fox, it raised a giant paw from the ground and swatted the tiny flame away.

**"...What do you want kit?"** The Kyuubi said with a loud yawn as it opened its eyes. **"Why must you always wake me when I'm trying to sleep?"** It spoke in slight irritation as it scratched behind one of its ears.

"I need something else to train in!" Shouted Naruto, looking the fox in the eyes expectantly. "I already learned to create the fireball with my tail!" He said looking proud of his accomplishment.

**"Huh? Oh, was that what that was?"** The Kyuubi said barely acknowledging the boys technique. **"If that was the best you could do, then you wouldn't even be able to use the higher tier techniques."**

Naruto looked down dejectedly, ears falling flat against his head. He had been hoping to impress the fox by learning what he was taught as fast as he could, but alas his efforts hadn't seemed to be enough. The sadness soon turned to determination though, as the small blond boy looked up with a strong fire burning in his eyes.

"Fine, if that wasn't good enough, then I'll show you the strongest fireball you've ever seen! And if I do, you have to show me a new technique!" Naruto yelled up at the fox with all his determination.

The Kyuubi sweat dropped at that, he had leveled entire forests to ash before with his own use of the technique. Seeing this as a great opportunity to get something out of the boys bet, he spoke down to the young child. **"Alright then, you have until tomorrow to impress me, and if you can't then you'll owe me a favor to be redeemed at a later date."**

The Kyuubi watched the boy as he appeared to be thinking about it before Naruto looked up, the same fire burning in his eyes.

"Fine! I'll prove to you that I can become strong!" Naruto yelled, voice filled with pure determination. "Then someday I'll make you, and my parents proud! I'll become the strongest shinobi the village has ever seen, and I won't EVER give up until I'm stronger than even you!" Naruto yelled, his voice radiating his resolve.

The fox let a small smile slip across his face at the determination he seen coming from the boy before him. On the boys face was a look the Kyuubi had seen before, a look he had actually seen from a certain fiery red headed woman. The nine-tails gave a slight nod of its giant head. As he looked down at the boy before him, no longer was he looking at just Naruto, but also the image of a woman with red hair and a bright smile standing next to him.

Yes, he had decided then and there, no matter what, he would help the boy attain his dreams.

**"Very well then, show me your strength kit, show me what you can accomplish."** The Kyuubi said, voice seemingly having grown softer and less grumbly as he gave a grin towards the boy, **"And kit, good job, I was surprised you were even able to create a fireball so quick. Maybe it has something to do with how you said it felt natural before... Whatever the cause, good job."** The Kyuubi finished as he stood up and stretched.

A bright smile spread across the boys face at hearing the great demon praise him. With a quick nod Naruto turned back towards the direction he came from and took of running as fast as his little body would carry him.

Watching the boy as he ran towards the tree line, eager to begin, the fox couldn't help but to feel a little guilty for letting the over ambitious boy agree to their deal, but decided no matter what happened, he would still teach the boy something the next day. If he was able to do it however was a different matter, he wasn't joking when he said the stronger techniques were a step up from the simple uses of their tails.

_**'Why is it seemingly so easy for an Uzumaki to make me soft?'**_ Was the thought on the Kyuubi's mind as he turned and walked through the trees in search of a lake that was nearby.

* * *

Hiruzen sat at his desk exhausted from the days events, he was currently filling out the days paperwork while simultaneously trying to figure out what to to about the group Jiraiya had informed him about earlier in the day.

**Flashback start**

Hiruzen sat behind his desk with a serious expression adorning his face, an expression that was being matched by the man across from him.

"So what information do you have for me now Jiraiya?" The Hokage asked in a serious tone as he sat resting his chin on his hands.

With a sigh, Jiraiya crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

"Sadly I'm afraid I don't have much for you sensei, but about a month ago I came across news of a group calling themselves 'Akatsuki' from one of my informants in grass country. We were originally discussing about the reported sightings of Orochimaru in the area when he brought up news that there had recently been two odd cloaked figures with straw hats spotted in Kusagakure. We believe Orochimaru was one of them."

Opening his eyes Jiraiya noticed the slight grimace appear on the Hokage's face at the mention of the snake sannin. Jiraiya really couldn't blame him, knowing about all the terrible things his ex-teammate had done, both before and after becoming a nuke-nin. Jiraiya knew exactly what caused the brief flicker of emotion to flash across Sarutobi's face...

Back when the snake sannin had first been discovered, having performed and run disturbing experiments on the local population of Konaha, Sarutobi had the chance to end the traitors life, which in turn would have saved the lives of thousands of innocents, but instead Hiruzen had let the snake summoner slip away, due to being unable to bring himself the nerve to end his precious students life. In Hiruzen's mind, he didn't want to believe Orochimaru had truly committed the cruel and vile acts.

With a sigh, Jiraiya Shook his head to clear it of the unneeded thoughts. He then turned his attention back to the matter at hand, his observation having only taken less than a second.

"As I was saying, from what I've heard, there has been multiple sightings of different pairs of cloaked figures in at least three of the hidden villages. The jobs they've been taking from what I can gather have been all S-rank missions, meaning the members have to each be at least S-rank for them to be completed with just two man teams."

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed at that, this could be very bad. Letting out a sigh he looked to Jiraiya, "I see... what else do you know about them? Any chance you know what it is they are trying to accomplish? Or the identities of any members they have?"

Jiraiya sighed and shook his head in the negative.

"Sorry sensei, but all I have is the bits and pieces I've gathered from my informants. So far all there is to go on is that they work in pairs and that they wear black cloaks with red clouds on them; other than that I haven't really gotten around to investigating them much as of yet. I was actually about to look into a lead when I received your letter."

The Hokage sighed at this; he really needed more information about this new group. Knowing that it's a group of S-rank shinobi meant that they could be a very large threat, and if they were he would have to find a way to wipe them out. In all likely hood he would probably end up having to actually train Naruto to be a weapon like that war hawk Danzo had wanted, simply in order to have a shinobi strong enough to take S-rank shinobi out, which he was strongly against, but if it was for the good of the village he would have to. Regardless, he decided he would wait for more information about them before making that call.

With a few cracks and pops, Hiruzen straightened his back before he turned his attention back towards Jiraiya with an expression to match the seriousness of the situation.

"Well due to the potential risk this new group is to the village, I'm assigning this as your primary mission; I need you to gather as much information on this _Akatsuki_ as possible, I need number of members, identities, goals, who their leader is... any information you can gather within the next year. From now on this is an S-rank mission, and any information you find on them is to be considered an S-rank secret, all information is to be given directly to me." Hiruzen stated. Jiraiya nodded his head showing he understood. Looking up to the Hokage, he sighed.

"Well this certainly has been a pleasant reunion huh sensei?" Jiraiya said jokingly. Hiruzen chuckled a bit at that.

"Heh, yeah if you can overlook all the bad news...but it truly is good to see you once again Jiraiya." Hiruzen said giving a light smile. Jiraiya gave a small smile of his own as he stood up from his seat.

"You too sensei, but as nice as this little chat has been, I think I would like to get my mind off all this mess and get a little research done." Jiraiya stated with a perverted smile at the last bit. Hiruzen shook his head at what his student considered research, but nevertheless nodded and gave Jiraiya one last glance as the toad sage jumped out the window into the village.

'Why do I get the feeling things are going to get complicated soon?' Hiruzen thought to himself.

**Flashback end**

Shortly after Jiraiya had left and Hiruzen had deactivated the privacy seal, there was a knock at the door.

When Hiruzen had given permission to enter, he couldn't help but to want to smash his head against his desk. Not one but three people had entered the room, the three being none other then the council elders.

Standing in front of the Hokage on the left was Homura Mitokado; a man about the same age as Hiruzen, he had grey hair, a beard, glasses and seemed to always be frowning.

Standing on the opposite side of him was Koharu Utatane; an old woman with grey hair pulled back into twin buns that were locked in place with a hair pin, she had dark eyes and was constantly squinting.

Between the two stood Danzo Shimura; a man that had been the Hokage's biggest headache since being put back in the position of Hokage once more.

The reason why Danzo had been such a pain for the Hokage was simple. For every decision Hiruzen made, there would always be an attempt to counteract his decision from Danzo. Sarutobi knew he didn't do it just to piss him off, but their opinions on just about everything differed. While Hiruzen was for a more peaceful approach to solving problems, Danzo was more for militaristic action. Danzo now had both Homura and Koharu rallied behind him because of that very reason, they were both for doing whatever it took to better Konaha, and if that meant overlooking the needs of the few for the betterment of the whole, then that's where their vote would be.

Danzo's appearance was that of a frail, old man. He had shaggy black hair and an x-shaped scar on his chin. He also had both his right eye and arm bandaged. He was wore a white shirt, with a dark grey robe over the top of it covering from his feet, to just over his right shoulder, and he was holding a cane in his left hand.

_'What now!?'_ The Hokage thought in annoyance as a mental image of a chibi Hiruzen sat bashing its head against it's little chibi desk.

Giving a mental sigh, Hiruzen made sure his face didn't show the annoyance he felt as he addressed the three standing before him.

"What is it the three of you need? I'm rather busy..." Hiruzen said with a deceptive calmness.

Danzo took a moment to step forward a bit before he began, "Very well I'll get to the point... It has come to our attention that there has been a sudden disappearance of a certain blonde haired jinchuriki as of recently. We have simply come here to inquire about his current status." Danzo said with a blank face.

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes at Danzo. If Danzo was asking about Naruto then it most likely wasn't for anything Hiruzen was going to like. Sending Danzo a serious gaze, Hiruzen spoke up.

"There is no need for concern, he is in a safe location. The fact of the matter is that I've had him moved to a safer location ever since the villagers attempt to end his life a week ago."

Hiruzen noticed the lack of shock on Danzo's face, but this didn't surprise him much. Hiruzen guessed that Danzo probably had his Root agents following the boy for the past year. The only reason Hiruzen didn't worry about it was the simple fact that the only one who could effectively take the boy without raising an alarm in the village was Danzo and his root, and if the boy were to disappear, Hiruzen would simply storm the Root headquarters.

Yes. Hiruzen knew that Root was still active behind his back, and he also knew where it's headquarters we're located. The only reason he didn't have Danzo executed was the simple fact that even though his Root program was inhumane, it was actually a necessity needed to keep the village sustained. The simple fact that times of peace had made the standards for the shinobi of Konaha lessen, made it a necessity for a shadow organization to take care of the darker side of the villages needs, while simultaneously keeping the lighter side of the village safe.

Danzo kept his neutral face in place as he spoke up. "Ah yes, I heard about that, it's a shame...but while the attack is concerning, there is more than the boys safety we need to discuss." Letting his face drop into a look of seriousness, Danzo continued, "I believe we should discuss the boys future as a potential shinobi of Konahagakure no sato..." Danzo spoke in a calm tone.

Hiruzen chuckled when he heard that, for it given him an excuse to end the conversation for now. Smiling at the confused looks he was getting from the trio in front of him, Hiruzen spoke.

"There's no need for that now, I was actually planning on calling a council meeting tomorrow to discuss such matters. We can discuss it then." Hiruzen spoke with a dismissive tone.

Danzo seemed taken off guard for a second before a minuscule smirk appeared on his face. While it did bother him that he wouldn't get the chance to do what he had originally come to do; that being to persuade the Hokage to turn the boy into a weapon for the good of Konaha; he did like that from the sounds of things, Hiruzen seemed to already be planning something for the boy, if his calling a meeting to discuss said boy was anything to go by. All he would need to do was wait for the meeting the next day and suggest the villages jinchuriki be trained to fulfill its purpose as what it was meant to be, a weapon.

With a slight nod of his head Danzo spoke.

"Very well then... I suppose it wouldn't hurt if such matters were discussed in the company of the village council. I look forward to the meeting then Hokage-sama." Danzo said in acceptance before he turned around to leave a moment later. The two remaining council elders that had stayed silent during their talk gave Hiruzen a quick bow before they too left the room.

Once they had gone, Hiruzen let out a sigh and began to pack his pipe with tobacco. Looking back down at the huge pile of paperwork that still needed to be done, Hiruzen shook his head before turning to look out the window. As he watched the sun start to set he couldn't help but to wish Minato were still the one in charge of the village. Maybe then he could actually get a good nights rest, but the way things were going it looked like he would just have to tough it out, so turning back to his paperwork, he began filling out and signing the various forms.

* * *

The sun beamed its warm rays of light down upon the village, casting shadows through the branches of the tree in which a lone man currently sat. This figure was none other than Jiraiya. He currently sat looking through a handheld telescope as he gazed down over a wall in which the tree overlooked.

Down below and across the street was the villages hot spring, and in it lay some of the villages most beautiful women. As he sat gazing upon the nude forms of the women enjoying the springs, Jiraiya's eye was caught by the woman that stepped out of the onsen building next. She had by far the nicest body out of the crowd, coupled with her wavy, shoulder length black hair, large breasts and exotic red eyes, Jiraiya nearly had a heart attack at her beauty.

She walked with a slight sway in her hips, the only thing covering her modesty was the white towel wrapped tightly around her form, covering her from mid thigh to just above her nipples, showing a rather large amount of her bust. As she stepped into the hot water and was about to remove the towel hiding her form, another presence made itself known.

"Hmm, I don't think it'd be wise to continue what you are doing." Came a feminine voice to Jiraiya's right startling him. When he looked over, sitting next to him on the branch was none other than a cat masked Anbu.

"And what exactly is it in which I shouldn't be doing?" Jiraiya asked the new arrival.

Jiraiya was a tad bit creeped out when the Anbu didn't say anything for a bit, and simply sat staring at him, the mask intensifying the stare due to the unblinking eyes. Finally after about two minutes had passed, which had felt like a life time for the toad sannin, the Anbu spoke up.

"I mean sitting on a branch in broad daylight peeping on the women in the hot springs. It's rather rude, plus if that woman with the red eyes ever found out, you'd be missing certain man bits if she ever caught up to you..." The Anbu said plainly.

Jiraiya scoffed at the new arrival.

"Oh? And why is that? I've been "peeping" as you so called it for years, and in all the years in which I've done so, the only times I have ever been caught have been by Tsunade-hime when I've tried to gather research material on her."

A minute slowly passed, filled with nothing but the ambient sounds of the village below, before Jiraiya started to question exactly why nothing was being said by the Anbu. As he turned his attention towards the cat masked Anbu, he wasn't sure but he could practically sense the Anbu sweat-drop, causing him to wonder why, and as he sat thinking he realized the fact he had pretty much just admitted to having illegally creeped on woman for years.

Upon this realization, Jiraiya was preparing to book it to get away from the awkward situation he had so elegantly created, when the Anbu next to him finally spoke up.

*Sigh* "Regardless of your rather disturbing hobby, I am actually here on business. Hokage-sama has called a council meeting and your presence has been requested. The meeting is due to start in 30 minutes." The Anbu said, having decided to just get right to the point.

Feeling embarrassed still, Jiraiya chuckled nervously, "Heh, well you really should have started with that, could have avoided this rather large wreck of a conversation... really I think you're to blame here." Jiraiya said rather lamely. In return he simply received a shaking of the Anbu's head before they shunshined away without a sound.

With a sigh, Jiraiya returned his gaze back towards the hot springs, only to get an eye full of a rather large set of old wrinkly balls, when the arm holding the telescope was hit with the handle of a kunai, casting it's gaze over into the men's section of the springs.

Releasing a rather loud yell, Jiraiya fell out of the tree he had been occupying and landed in a bush below, twitching and sobbing about being blind.

* * *

Yugao stood on top of a building a ways away from the now twitching sannin, arm outstretched and a smile plastered on her mask covered face. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was perverts, especially perverts that peeped on her friends. Yes, she would be informing Kurenai later, and she would enjoy hearing the perverts screams from across the village. With her job done, she left in a quick shunshin.

* * *

A few short minutes later, Jiraiya had regained his composure, even if it took emptying the contents of his stomach. Jiraiya grimaced as he gazed down at the poor bush he had landed on, it's branches were now broken in multiple places and covered in vomit. It really didn't deserve that...

As he thought back to why he had fallen in the first place, he had to suppress a shiver. He would NEVER be able to get that image out of his head. Shaking his head to rid himself of the disturbing images, he thought back to what the Anbu had said. Deciding he might as well go visit Hiruzen, and find out why he was needed at the council meeting, he hopped up onto a nearby roof and began roof hopping towards the Hokage tower.

Landing on the roofing just outside the Hokage's office, he knocked on the window, gaining the attention of the lone figure inside. Having alerted the old man to his presence, Jiraiya opened the window and stepped through.

With a lazy wave and a simple "Yo" Jiraiya made his way to the seat across from Hiruzen, who waited patiently for him to do so before speaking up.

"I take it that you have been informed of the council meeting?" Hiruzen asked plainly.

"Yeah, I have, so what's the deal?" Jiraiya asked with a inquisitive look. "I take it if you want me there it must be rather important. You gonna tell those old bats about Akatsuki or something? I mean we don't exactly have enough information on them to do anything yet..." Jiraiya finished trailing off at the end.

Hiruzen shook his head, "No, not yet, but it does have something to do with them."

"So? You gonna tell me?" Jiraiya asked when he noted Hiruzen wasn't going to continue. Hiruzen took a glance at the clock before he looked back down at Jiraiya.

"Seeing as we still have a few minutes before we need to get going, I might as well inform you."

* * *

The council chamber was a room used for council meetings pertaining to sensitive information. It consisted of a large open room, with two separate rows of tables parallel to each other, each row of tables being reserved for either the shinobi or civilian councils. In the front of the room was a single table on a stage for the Hokage, with another single table for the village elders, Danzo, Koharu and Homaru, located directly across from it.

Currently occupying the chambers was the village's shinobi council, consisting of the Aburame, Akimichi, Hyuga, Inuzuka, Nara, Uchiha and Yamanaka clan heads, alongside the village elders, Danzo, Koharu and Homaru.

They hadn't been waiting more than five minutes when the Hokage entered the room, followed closely by Jiraiya. All attention was directed at the pair as they silently walked up to the front of the council. Taking his seat with Jiraiya sitting next to him, Hiruzen took a moment as he gazed around the room. Seeing all the clan heads present, he cleared his throat and addressed the council in a formal manner.

"First off, I'd like to thank you all for attending on such short notice." he said, receiving some nods and smiles in return. "Now the reason you all are here is simple..." Hiruzen stated, trailing off as he looked towards the attending clan heads and council elders.

"We are all here to discuss the weaponization of the villages jinchuriki..."

* * *

**Alright, so that's chapter three! I apologize if it sucks, but I have been trying to get better with my writing, but the only way for me to do so is by writing and reading other people's fanfics. Really I originally only started writing this to see if I could, and as a way to get better.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading if you got this far.**

**And as always, reviews are appreciated, whether you point out stuff I've done wrong, or stuff that I've done in which you've liked, please leave a review.**


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